I was facing the slave girl on my bed in my room.
What would you call this….spectacularly awkward?
When Mary left us alone she said with an icy stare, “I will bring extra sheets tomorrow, so feel free to do as you please.” It depresses me to think about what she’s imagining.
I’m curious as to why this girl is a slave…… I slowly turn my eyes to look at her.
Her cherry blossom colored hair catches my eye first.
It is a color of hair which would’ve been impossible in my previous life, but it probably is her natural hair color. Her glamorous hair reflects the lights in the room, and it seems as if a halo is formed around her head.
Her eyes are of a deep blue that really draw you in; her other facial features are well proportioned as well.
Because she is a slave, her clothes are plain, but she does have a single silver hair ornament. If anything, she appears to be a well brought up girl that is just dressed plainly.
By the way, her ears aren’t as pointy as I was expecting, in fact, they really only come to a slight point. Also, when I imagine an elf, I picture a slender person with sharp features, but this girl has a pretty good style.
“…Um, Master?”
“Hmm? Did you need something?”
“No, I was wondering why you’ve been silently staring at me.”
“A-ah, sorry. I was just admiring your beautiful hair decoration.”
“Umm…… This is ……It’s something very important to me.”
It seems it holds a very special meaning to her. She lightly touched the hair ornament with a thoughtful expression on her face.
“Is it some kind of memento?”
“Well…yes, so please do not take it away from me.”
“You don’t need to worry, I would never take anything away from you, especially something so important.”
“Is that true?”
“It’s true…why are you so surprised?”
“That’s because…….Master will also take my first time now, right?”
“Hah?”
“No, I have already prepared myself, so I will not ask for you to spare me, but before we start could I tell you more about myself?”
“……Umm, what are you talking about?”
“I understand that it is a ridiculous request, but please understand! I want to know at least a little about each other before we start!”
She bows her head deeply in order to get me to listen to her request.
“I don’t have any problem with what you’re asking, will you please raise your head for now?”
I try to get her to calm down, but she doesn’t budge. Huh? Will she not raise her head until I listen to her story?
“Well, first answer my question and I will listen to your story properly afterward.”
“…Are you telling the truth?”
The girl nervously lifts her head.
“Yes, therefore, you don’t need to act so worried.”
“…Thank you very much, Master. You’re so kind.”
She had looked very nervous for a while now, but seemed to finally relax. I thought her face was already very beautiful, but when she smiles she is very cute. If I had already hit puberty, I might have fallen for her right then and there.
“Well, you are…sorry, what’s your name?”
“Alistair, if you’d like, please call me Alice.”
“Well then, Alice, please call me Leon.”
“I understand, Leon-sama, right?”
“No, you don’t need to worry about any honorifics……Ah well, we do have to worry about Mary, if she hears you call me just Leon she may become suspicious. But, for the moment it should be fine.”
“Yes, Leon, so what is your question?”
“Oh yeah…Claire – the girl who brought you here, what did she tell you?”
“That is……every night, you may ask me for various things, so I should be prepared to devote myself body and soul to you and I should try to do my best with it all….”
“~~~~~~”
….That girl. What she said isn’t wrong, but the way she worded it was terribly wrong!
She couldn’t possibly be wording it like that on purpose. It’s scary that I actually think she may be capable of something like that, but I would never try to do anything like that! Right?
“U-umm, although I said it will be my first time, I have learned a little bit from the women employed by the slave traders, so umm……I may be awful at the beginning, but I will get better over time. So, please, be patient – ”
“Wait, wait! I have no intention on doing anything like that, so you don’t have to worry about that.”
“…Well …Uh, umm……what do you mean?”
I scratch my head in embarrassment. I explain to Alice what I actually want from her.
“So, you would like me to teach you about various things…..?”
“Yes, general knowledge would be fine, but if you have any knowledge of magic that would be great.”
“So, that was the case.”
It seems that all of the stress had finally become too much for her and Alice collapsed weakly. However, after she takes a few breaths, she raised her head.
“Wow, I misunderstood… I am ashamed…Please, forget everything I said earlier.”
“Everything you said earlier…”
Well, thinking about her earlier words, I feel like I heard some great things….. No, I shouldn’t think about that.
Calm down, I need to calm down. My body is still nine years old, and puberty has not started yet. As it is, I must remain calm so I can keep my carnal desires in check.
………..Fuu, the room had become calm for a short moment.
But when I think about what she said, a pretty girl who has been trained, but still has no experience….some amazing and perverted thoughts come to my mind……..I need to remain calm and think clearly about this.
That’s it. Let’s change the subject for the time being.
“Well then, Alice you were born in the Elf tribe, so how did you become a slave to humans?”
“Why did I become a slave to humans…?”
“I’m just merely curious, so you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”
“No, Leon-sama, please ask me about anything you’d like to know.”
“……Are you sure?”
“Yes, I told you I wanted us to know more about each other.”
Hmm, she doesn’t seem like she’s forcing herself to say it….that must be her true feelings.
“Will you tell me then?”
“Yes. Although it may not be an unusual story, but since I was born I’ve had a tremendous curiosity and I was very interested in human cities. So as soon as I became old enough, I left my village, but then I was deceived by a human that I thought I could trust… “
“…Well then, it wasn’t your choice to become a slave?”
“It wasn’t, but..is there really anyone that would choose to become a slave?”
Alice curiously tilts her head.
“No, I just wondered if you sold yourself for money, or if you were interested in spending the night with a man.”
“Do you think I would be interested in something like that?!”
Her pale skin was instantly dyed red. But I guess she soon realized it was a joke and she glared at me with a relieved look.
“……do you really think I’d do something like that?”
“You don’t need to worry about it – I was just joking, so please don’t look at me with such sulky eyes.”
“Muu……Will you forget about even saying it in the first place?”
“I’m sorry, I will forget about it properly, but please let me know just one thing, I don’t feel like you’ve given up, so why haven’t you tried to run away?”
“That is….because I just want to be happy.”
“……You want to be happy?”
“Yes, I can not say the reason, but I need to be happy, so if it is a fate that I cannot escape, if I have to serve someone as a slave, I will try my best to like the person I serve.”
“I see….”
I remembered the words Alice said a little while ago.
Because it is the only thing in her life that will satisfy her – Alice will do whatever to be happy even if she’s sold as a slave to a stranger.
The marriages of convenience that have been decided for Claire and I, it may not be comparable to Alice, but our lives are being decided for us as well. Knowing this, you’d expect us to do anything we can to resist…as if.
“Alice, I will let you go free.”
“….Eh? What do you mean?”
It’s something she couldn’t even imagine. Alice scratches her head curiously.
“It’s as I said, I’ll let you go free from here, so you must live your life freely and be happy.”
“That is —”
She finally seems to understand my words. Her expression is of complete shock, and her face that had been frozen for several seconds, finally changed.
“I am delighted with your feelings, but if you would allow me, I would like to stay at your side Leon-sama.”
“I’m happy to hear that, but….why?”
“…Please look at this.”
Alice opens her shirt slightly to show her chest. I was surprised at seeing this and began to turn my eyes away, but just before that, I noticed something like a magic square slightly below her neck.
“That is?”
“It is a stamp of a slave contract.”
“It’s proof of slavery, but do you have to show it to people like that?”
“It’s not just a mark of slavery, it is inscription magic, if I were to betray my master in any way, I’d be hit with an intense amount of pain.”
“Oh……So there is such an effect…….Ah, but… If I say that it’s okay for you to go free, then that wouldn’t be an act of betrayal, right?”
“Because I know that Leon-sama wants to learn from me, so if I was allowed to run away due to your kindness, then there is a high possibility of me being hit by the pain.”
…..Ah, I understand. I was curious what would be considered an act of betrayal, but it appears to be based off of the guilt of the slave.
The likelihood that a slave may try to kill their master while they sleep would be much lower this way, but I guess there is the obvious possibility that a slave would not feel guilty if they had been treated poorly.
It sounds useful when you want an obedient slave….though, in this case, it’s troublesome.
I honestly wanted to let Alice be free, but in my heart I do have a feeling that I want Alice to stay with me- and, Alice expects that if she were to try to leave, that would be judged as an act of betrayal.
“I would be troubled if pain hits me in a distant land, and there is spirit magic inscribed in the mark, even if I escape here, I can not live by myself.”
“Then, isn’t there a way to remove the mark?”
“I think that it would be possible for an exceptional magician, although it may also be possible to erase it in my hometown…….”
“In your current state you can not leave my side, and I have no way of finding a magician. I’m sorry, saying something like that and giving you false hope.”
“No, do not apologize, I said earlier, I think that I want to stay at your side Leon-sama.”
“Isn’t that just because you can’t go free from here?”
“I think that being by your side will be interesting.”
“…It certainly seems that your curiosity is strong. Even though you’ve had such a painful experience with humans before.”
“That’s right, I’ve had trouble trusting humans since becoming a slave, but I feel that I can believe in you Leon-sama.”
She’s saying something that makes me happy, but … Is it okay, this girl. I am worried that she may be deceived again some day.
“I’m glad you feel that you can trust me, but what will you do if you’re betrayed again?”
“I will not do anything, as long as I believe in Leon-sama, whatever the outcome is, it was my own choice to stay with you.”
“…….If you truly believe so, then do not move, okay?”
I command that of Alice and embrace her closely. I pressed my lips against Alice’s neck.
“……hnn~”
Alice lets out a cute voice, but she remains still. I confirmed it, and gently let go of Alice.
“… You’re quite obstinate to not resist at all.”
“I just trusted Leon-sama. But, why did you do that?”
“I put a kiss mark on your neck, I think it’s embarrassing, but later Mary can see it so she won’t become suspicious.”
“Mary, she’s the maid who came in earlier, right?”
“Ah, she also keeps watch on me, this way she won’t have any reason to be suspicious of me or you.”
“I understand……but is there a special meaning behind it?”
“…… Actually, I also think that I would like to be happy, so when I heard Alice’s story, I thought it would be nice if we could be happy together.”
I reach out to Alice, but there is no reaction for some reason. Looking at her face, it was dyed red from ear to ear.
“…..Alice?”
“U-um, Leon-sama? Just now, that ……Did you just…pr-propose?”
I was trying to understand what this girl was saying, when I suddenly got the meaning behind her words.
“N-no! That wasn’t what I meant, I just wanted us to work hard together!”
“A-a-ah, I understand. I was a little surprised.”
“I am sorry, I said something in a very confusing way. If someone tells you that they want to be happy together, it can’t be helped that you’d take that as a proposal.”
“No, I was surprised, but I was very happy. Let’s aim for happiness together!”
“…… Haha, that’s a very strange line.”
“You’re terrible, didn’t Leon-sama say that first!”
“Sorry, sorry, it was a joke. Alright from now on let’s look after each other, Alice.”
“Yes, I’ll be in your care.”
In this way, the strange life between me and Alice began.
